Roller socket mounting



May 11, 1965 A. R. HEGEMAN ROLLER SOCKET-MOUNTING v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 11. 963

FIG. 2

United States Patent York Filed Feb. 11, 1963, Ser. No. 257,710 3 Claims. (Cl. 30815) This invention relates to roller socket mountings for printing machines.

Printing machine ink motions generally include a number of soft-surfaced rollers cooperating with the hardsurfaced drums for working or distributing the ink and transferring the ink from drum to drum.

An adjustable mounting for such rollers is required since the contact with two drums requires to be regulated and the diameter of the roller is not fixed, since the surface tends to swell in use and it is usual practice to recondition rollers by regrinding, which reduces their diameter.

The general object of the invention is to provide a roller mounting which is of a semi-automatic character, permitting a close adjustment of proportion of pressures against two drums and automatically compensating for diameter changes.

With this and other objects which will appear in mind, a preferred embodiment of the invention will now first be described with reference to the accompanying drawing, and the features forming the invention will then he pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is an elevation view of a roller socket mounting;

FIG. 2 is a reverse elevation view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a section on the line 33 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a detail view of a part of the mechanism.

The roller 1 has tapered shaft ends 2 (FIG. 3) to which anti-friction bearings 3 may be hydraulically fitted, the bearings, in turn, being held in the roller socket which comprises the body 4 and movable element or cover 5, mounted on the body member of the socket by a hinge pin 6 and releasably held in closed position by the usual fastening bolt 7, which engages threadably in a rotatable poppet 8 carried by the body member 4 of the socket.

Body member 4 has a stub shaft 9 by means of which it is supported in a slide element 19 which is carried within bracket frame member 11 secured to the machine frame 12 by means of a pair of bolts 13 (FIGS. 1, 2). A nut 14 on the threaded end of stub shaft 9 abuts against the element for holding the shaft 9 in position axially while permitting turning movement thereof within the accommodating bore 15 of the element 10.

Element 10 has guiding surfaces 16 and 17 engaging gibs or guiding surfaces forced on the inner walls 18 and I? of the socket frame member 11 and also has surfaces 20 and 21 abutting against surfaces 22 and 23 of the iember 11 for limiting movement axially of the roller. An oval cut out 24 in member 11 accommodates the stub shaft 9 and permits adjusting movement of it along with the slidable member if) for varying the position of the axis of roller 1 and, hence, bringing it into proper relation to the cooperating ink cylinders or drums 25, 26.

As is known, the grinding of roller 1 and the swelling thereof in use results in a change in the diameter of this element, requiring its relocation for proper operation with the cooperating drums or cylinders. Where but a single such drum is involved, the adjusting movement may be in a straight line, as is also the case where the roller cooperates with two cylinders of equal diameters, and the roller socket of the invention is mounted on the machine frame 12 by locating bolts 13, so as to align the direction of movement of the sliding element It) with this direction of adjustment, so that the axis of stub shaft 9 "ice moves in the same plane as the axis of the roller during the process of adjustment. Where the roller is used with ink drums of different diameters, the theoretical adjustment path of the axis of roller 1 will not be a straight line but a hyperbola, and in this case, the roller socket is mounted on the frame so that the sliding movement of the axis of stub shaft 2 will be along a straight line approximating to the hyperbolic path over the required range of adjustment. vided for a transverse adjustment of the roller so as to permit relating the same accurately to both drums with which it cooperates.

The operation of the roller socket of the invention is a semi-automatic one, permitting an adjustment of the roller to a position determined by a definitely known spring pressure and then locking the parts in the position assumed, so that no yielding action of the spring can occur. Spring 27 extends substantially the full length of the bracket frame element 11. This frame element 11 is equipped with an outer closure plate 28 fixed to it by screws 29 and having a bore 30 accommodating a spring adjusting screw 31 and a countersunk recess 32 around this bore in which one end of the spring 27 seats. The sliding element 11 is also fitted with an inward cover plate 33 secured to it by screws 34 and having a bore 35 receiving the end of screw 31, which is held in position am'ally by means of nut 36 fixed to it by cotter 37. The spring 27 seats against a square nut 38 having a hub 39 fitting inside the spring, and accommodated in a slot 40 in the slide element 10, which permits movement of the nut 38 axially of the screw but prevents it from turning. Screw 31 has a head 41 and positioning nut 42 for adjusting the pressure of spring 27 against the element 10 to any desired value within the range of adjustment provided. Screw 31 passes freely through the bores 30 and 35. Turning screw 31, which is threadably engaged in the nut 33, causes, since the nut is restrained from rotation by the slot 49, the movement of the nut 38 axially of the screw 31, thus compressing spring 27 so as to provide the required adjustment of its pressure. Spring 27 is accommodated by a cross bore 43 in the stub shaft 9, and has sufficient clearance in the wall of this bore to permit a limited turning movement of the stub shaft 9 within the bore 15' of the member 10.

As is apparent, the bearing socket in the elements 4, 5 is located so as to place the axis of roller 1 inthe plane of movement of the axis of stub shaft 9, as the position of slide 10 is adjusted, but these two axes are separated by a distance marked d (FIG. 1), the axis of roller 1, for a six inch diameter roller, being set about an inch farther away in this plane from the cooperating drums 25, 26 than the axis of stub shaft 9.

A pair of wedges 44, 45 are accommodated in a space formed between opposed surfaces 46, 47 of the slide 19 and the socket frame member 11. A bolt 48 rotatable in a bore in the cover plate and axially fixed with relation thereto by a collar 49 and bolt head 5% threadably engages in a threaded bore 51 in'the wedge 45. By turning the bolt 43, wedge 45 is forced against wedge 44, thus tending to force the members 10, 11 apart in the axial direction of the roller and pulling the member 4 firmly up against the abutting surface of the bracket frame member 11 so as to securely lock it and the slide 10 in position, both against sliding movement and against turning the stub shaft 2.

Slide 10 has a projecting arm 52 accommodated in a cut out 53 in the member 11 and carrying a poppet 54 rotatably mounted by means of the poppet block support pin 55. This poppet block has a transverse threaded bore 56 receiving a correspondingly threaded section 57 of adjusting screw 58. A poppet block 59 formed on the hinge pin 6 has a threaded bore receiving another Means as later described is prothreaded portion 60 of the screw 58. Screw 58 is a differential screw, the threaded portions 57 and 60 having, for example, twenty and twenty-four threads to the inch, respectively, so that a full turn of the screw 58 produces a comparatively small movement of the hinge pin 6 with reference to the poppet block support pin 55 (somewhat less than V of an inch with screw threads such as indicated). The corresponding turning of stub shaft 9 displaces the axis of the roller 1 out of the plane of movement of the axis of stub shaft 9 through a proportional angle. Due to the displacement of centers by a small amount, a full turn of screw 58 may correspond to about .0025 inch transverse adjustment of the axis of roller 1.

As will be apparent, tightening up on the wedges 44, 45 not only locks the slide 10 in position but simultaneously locks the roller socket proper 4, and stub shaft 9 against turning. Since the thrust exerted by the wedges 44, 45 is axial with reference to the roller 1, and hence at right angles to both adjusting movements, any slight shifting of the parts in tightening will have no perceptible effect on the adjustment of the roller.

The setting of the roller socket of the invention is extremely simple. The wedges 44, 45 being loosened, screw head 41 is turned so as to set spring 27 to the desired overall pressure in the direction of movement of the slide 10. Since the spring passes through the axis of stub shaft 9, there is no appreciable effect, due to variation of movement arms in the positioning of the parts, on the effective spring pressure. Roller 1 will find a position in which the sum of the components of the normal pressures of the roller 1 against drums 25 and 26 in the direction of the movement of the slide will equal the spring force. By turning screw 58, the division of this spring force as between the pressure exerted on roller 25 and that exerted on roller 26 may be varied and adjusted to a nicety. Automatically the sum of the components of these two pressures in the direction of action of the spring will always equal the pressure exerted by the spring. Since the full length of the roller socket frame is available to spring 27, this spring is a long spring. It may be preloaded to a desired value at assembly and adjusted for required changes from this value, without difficulty. Since the pressure exerted by the spring is determined completely by the setting of the spring adjusting screw 31, it becomes unnecessary to position the roller in any fixed manner in its major direction of adjustment, which is the direction of movement of the slide and the relative pressure exerted as between drum 25 and drum 26 may be adjusted to a nicety by utilizing screw 58. Once the roller has been adjusted, turning bolt 48 operates the wedge assembly 44, 45 to lock the parts in position and fix the position of the axis of roller 1.

If it is desired to remove and replace a roller, screw 31 is turned by means of its head 41, so as to pull the stop nut 38 back, compressing the spring 27 by, say, a half inch or so. This opens up suificient clearance between nut 38 and end plate 33 of the sliding element 10, so that the sliding element 10 and roller socket carried thereby can be bodily pushed back to create the required clearance for removing the roller. When the roller has been replaced, screw 31 is turned to restore nut 38 to desired position.

What is claimed is:

1. A roller socket mounting for printing machines comprising a slide, guide means for supporting the slide on a machine frame and guiding it for movement in a predetermined direction, a roller socket, a stub shaft on the roller socket rotatably carried in a bore in the slide and having its axis spaced from the roller socket axis in the said predetermined direction, means for pivotally adjusting the roller socket with relation to the slide about the said stub shaft axis for positioning the roller socket axis transversely of the said predetermined direction, an adjustable spring for urging the slide in the predetermined direction, and means for locking the slide and roller socket to the guide means against sliding and pivotal movement, the said locking means comprising relatively movable wedge members between the slide and guide means and actuating means for the wedge members for engaging and disengaging the same to lock and unlock the mounting.

2. A roller socket mounting according to claim 1, having abutment means carried by the said stub shaft and engaging against the slide and the face thereof adjacent the machine frame, whereby the pressure exerted by the Wedge means is carried by the said abutment means.

3. A roller socket mounting for printing machines comprising a slide, guide means for supporting the slide on a machine frame and guiding it for movement in a predetermined direction, a roller socket, a stub shaft on the roller socket rotatably carried in a bore in the slide and having its axis spaced from the roller socket axis in the said predetermined direction, means for pivotally adjusting the roller socket with relation to the slide about the said stub shaft axis for positioning the roller socket axis transversely of the said predetermined direction, a spring for urging the slide in the predetermined direction, the said stub shaft having a cross bore accommodating the said spring, means adjustably mounting one end of the spring to the frame and thrust means carried by the slide and engaged by the other end of the spring, and means for locking the slide and roller socket to the guide means against sliding and pivotal movement.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,974,987 9/34 Ginsberg 101348 2,446,624 8/48 Allison.

2,699,116 1/55 Harless 101-348 2,860,579 11/58 Granger 101--348 3,060,851 10/62 Hilgoe et a1. 101-349 ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner. 

1. A ROLLER SOCKET MOUNTING FOR PRINTING MACHINES COMPRISING A SLIDE, GUIDE MEANS FOR SUPPORTING THE SLIDE ON A MACHINE FRAME AND GUIDING IT FOR MOVEMENT IN A PREDETERMINED DIRECTION, A ROLLER SOCKET, A STUB SHAFT ON THE ROLLER SOCKET ROTATABLY CARRIED IN A BORE IN THE SLIDE AND HAVING ITS AXIS SPACED FROM THE ROLLER SOCKET AXIS IN THE SAID PREDETERMINED DIRECTION, MEANS FOR PIVOTALLY ADJUSTING THE ROLLER SOCKET WITH RELATION TO THE SLIDE ABOUT THE SAID STUB SHAFT AXIS FOR POSITIONING THE ROLLER SOCKET AXIS TRANSVERSELY OF THE SAID PREDETERMINED DIRECTION, AN ADJUSTABLE SPRING FOR URGING THE SLIDE IN THE PREDETERMINED DIRECTION, AND MEANS FOR LOCKING THE SLIDE AND ROLLER SOCKET TO THE GUIDE MEANS AGAINST SLIDING AND PIVOTAL MOVEMENT, THE SAID LOCKING MEANS COMPRISING RELATIVELY MOVABLE WEDGE MEMBERS BETWEEN THE SLIDE AND GUIDE MEANS AND ACTUATING MEANS FOR THE WEDGE MEMBERS FOR ENGAGING AND DISENGAGING THE SAME TO LOCK AND UNLOCK THE MOUNTING. 